Conveyer



April 30, 1940. w MUNDY 2,198,594

l CONVEYER Filed March 10, 1938 FIG.

W/LL/AM J. MufwY rro NEY Patented Apr. 30, 1940 l I PTENT OFFICE CONVEYER William J. Mundy, University City, Mo., assignor to C. T.

Small Manufacturing Company,

v St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application March 10,

Claims.

My invention relatesl to vconveyers and more particularly' to' 'a conveyer adapted to feed to a device at the discharge end thereof articles arranged in the same relative position to each 5 other; that the covers be positioned on the conveyer 5 The conveyers as used heretofore were adapted with their longitudinal axis perpendicular to the particularly for feeding to a filling or capping longitudinal axis of the conveyer so that the covmachine articles such as cans, bottles and thev ers are in registry with the containers when the like, which were shaped so that they could be arcovers are discharged from the conveyer to the ranged on the conveyer in a number of positions machine. It is not feasible, therefore, to guide 10 and still be' fed properly to the device at the disthe articles on the conveyer by separating the charge end of the conveyer. For instance, round guide rails a distance equal to the width of the articles could rotate'about their axis to an inarticles because the containers in the filling manite number of positions and still present a chine then must be placed with their longitudinal surface'of the same contour to the device at the axis perpendicular to the direction of movement, i6' discharge end of the conveyer. Likewise, square and the speed at which the table rotates must be articles could be positioned in one of four difdecreased so that the opening in the container is ferent ways and still present a surface of the in registry with the iilling spout a sufficient time same contour to the device. In conveyers used to fill the can entirely.

for moving articles of this kind, the articles were In view of the deficiencies of conveyers as used guided with siiicient accuracy by forming at the heretofore, my invention contemplates a consides of the conveyer guide rails separated a veyer adapted to feed properly positioned articles distance suicient to permit the articles to pass one at a time to a device at the discharge end of therebetween. When feeding square articles into the conveyer. The conveyer is adapted especially B5 a filling or capping machine the guide rails on to feed articles, such as talcurn powder covers, 25. the conveyer were separated from each other a having a length substantially greater than their distance equal to the length of a side of the width and having a projection protruding from article so that the articles could assume only one a surface thereof. of the four positions mentioned above when on The conveyer comprises a member having the conveyer. If round articles were fed into the therein a channel adapted to engage the projec- 30. lling or capping machine the guide walls were tions on the articles and thereby guide the articles separated a distance equal to the diameter of the as they move along the conveyer, and the chanarticles. V nel at the receiving end thereof is flared so that When articles having a length greater than articles positioned side by side will enter the nartheir width are fed into a machine by a conveyer rower portion oi' the channel one at a time with- 35 as used heretofore, if the guide rails are separated out blocking the entry and jamming the cona distance equal to the length of the articles, the veyer. A pair of chains or other suitable exarticles are likely to shift their positions between pedient is provided to move the articles from the the guide rails so that two or more articles may receiving end of the conveyer to the discharge pass side by side along the conveyer. If the end thereof and the chains are adapted to move o conveyer is used to feed covers to a capping mafaster than the articles on the conveyer at the Chine, the COVerS at the discharge end 0f the discharge end whereby the articles at this end conveyer Will not be in registry With the C0r1 are aligned in the correct position before passing tainers positioned in the machine and adapted to from the conveyer to the capping and filling ma- 5 receive the covers. The containers and covers, chine. 45- therefore, are likely to be bent out of shape, and Having described briefly my new and improved parts of the machine may be injured during the conveyer the objects of my invention therefore capping operation. are to provide a conveyer which is simple in At present, the containers usually are filled operation and cheap in cost and which will feed and capped by the same machine and it is necesarticles one at a time in the same relative posi- 50. sary that the container, While being filled, be in tion to each other to a device at the discharge registry with the filling spout as long as possible end of the conveyer. so that the container may move continuously Other objects and advantages will be apparent and pass under the spout at high speed. The to those skilled in the art from the following machines usually have a circular rotating table description wherein reference is made to the 55| 1938, Serial No. 195,052

to move the containers under the filling spouts, and the containers are placed on the table with their longitudinal axis parallel to the direction of movement. For this reason, it is necessary4 2 1," t drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention and wherein similar reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the several views. 5 A conveyer constructed according to my invention is shown in the drawing wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view thereof. f,

Fig. 2,is -a vertical sectionon the line 2li-2 of Fis.1.an`d. f` Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. v, Referring to the drawing, one embodiment of a conveyer constructed according to my invention is shown therein comprising a bed I formed by a pair of members 2 spacedla lsuitable distance from each other and carried by the bars 3. 'I'he members 2 may be mounted rigidly on the bars 3, as shown particularly in Fig. 2, and may be mounted adjustably thereon so that the distance between the members may be varied to accommodate articles of various-sizes. Each of the members has a pair of side Walls 5 forming therebetween atrough 4 provided with a 'chain 5 adapted toslide therethrough and arranged to protrude above the side walls 6 so that articles, as designated by A, reston the chain 5 and are moved thereby from the receiving end of the conveyer to the discharge end thereof. Each chain 5 extends the entire length of the conveyer and meshes with a pair of sprockets (not shown in the drawing) one at each end thereof. The sprockets may be rotated by a motor or other suitable device through necessary gearing to impart movement to the 'chains 5.

Parallel and adjacent to each of the members 2 is a rail 1 mounted adjustably on the bars 3 so that the rails 'l may be separated any desired distance to accommodate articles of various sizes, and, in the present embodiment, thumb screws 40; 8 are provided for that purpose.

Mounted on a bracket 9 carried by the rails 'l and positioned above the moving chains 5, is a member i0 having 'formed therein a channel il adapted to engage the projections protruding g from thesurfaces of the articles and arranged to guide the articles as they move from the receiving end of the conveyer to the discharge end thereof. As shown in Fig 2, the member i0 is positioned centrally above the chains 5, but the member may be arranged in any desired position relative vthereto to accommodate articles of various kinds and shapes so that the articles may be centered on the chains. For this reason, the bracket 9 preferably is formed of a pair of slotted parts 9a so that the bracket can be adjusted to various lengths and so that the member I0 may be arranged in any desired position relative to the chains 5.

As implied above, the channel Ii in the memcp; ber l0 preferably is slightly larger than the projections on the articles so that the articles move freely with the chains 5 and are maintained in a central position thereon. However, at the receiving end of the conveyer the channel Il is flared considerably so that if two articles are introduced into the conveyer side by side one article will precede the adjacent article and move forward along the conveyer before the adjacent article and be centered onl the chains 5. By forming 70.. the channel il at the receiving end of the conveyer in this manner the articles can not jam at this point.

As shown in Fig. 1, at the receiving end of the conveyer some of the articles are positioned with 7s' their longitudinal axis at various angles to the chains though the articles are centered there on. For this reason, the chains 5 are arranged to move faster than do the articles at the discharge end of the conveyer, and' it is necessary. therefore, that the articles rest periodically on the conveyer and congregate at the 'discharge end thereof. As the articles approach this end of the conveyer they contact each otherand forward movement of the articles is retarded, and. as each article contacts the preceding article on the conveyer, each article will assume a position whereby the longitudinal axis of the article is perpendicular to the bed I of the conveyer. Therefore, at the discharge end, all ofthe articles are in the same, position relative to each other,

The conveyer operates as follows: Articles are placed on the chains 5 at the receiving end of the conveyer, and the chains move the articles from .the receiving en d to the discharge end thereof. As the articles move from the flaredl portion to the narrow part of the channel Il, the articles are centered automatically on .the chains 5 and because the chains move faster than do the articles at the dischargeend, the articles at this end contact adjacent articles and are aligned so that .the longitudinal axis of the articles is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the conveyer. Obviously, when an article is discharged from the conveyer to the capping machine, the article is in this position and in registry with the article positioned in the capping machine and adapted to receive the article from the conveyer.

When articles having a projection thereon, as

described brieiiy above, are moved over the con- V veyer, the rails 'i are unnecessary andmay bev removed if desired, since the articles are guided by the member i0. If the rails 'i are not used, any suitable support may be utilized to maintain the member I0 properly positioned above the chains.

Other arrangements may be used without deviating from the scope of my invention, and while I describe a particular construction embodying my invention, it is of course evident that the construction may be varied in many particulars and I, therefore, do not limit myself to the form and arrangement shown and described.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An orienting conveyer device adapted to feed articles that are longer than they are wide and that have an upwardly extending projection smaller than either body dimension and to deliver said articles one at a time and with their short axis parallel to the path of movement of the articles, comprising a conveyer on which said articles rest which conveyer moves more rapidly than the articles at the discharge end and a guide member fitting loosely over said projections, whereby the comparatively rapid movement of said conveyer causes said articles to pivot about their projections and to assume a position with their short axis parallel to their path of movement.

2. An orientlng conveyer device adapted to feed articles that are longer than they are wide and that have an upwardly extending projection smaller than either body dimension and to deliver said articles one at a time and with their short axis parallel to the path of movement of the articles, comprising a conveyer on which said articles rest which moves more rapidly than the articles at the discharge end and a narrow channel guide member above said conveyer fitting loosely over said projections, whereby the crowding of said articles at the discharge end causes them to pivot about their projections and to assume a position with their short axis parallel to their path of movement.

3. An orienting conveyer device adapted to feed articles that are longer than they are wide and that have an upwardly extending projection smaller than either body dimension and to deliver said articles one at a time and with their short axis parallel to the path of movement of the articles, comprising a conveyer on which said articles rest which moves more rapidly than said articles at the discharge end, guides on each side of said conveyer the distance between said guides being substantially equal to the length of said articles and a guide member above said conveyer fitting loosely over said projections, whereby the comparatively rapid movement of said conveyer causes said articles to pivot about their projections and to assume a position with their short axis parallel to their path of movement.

4. An orienting conveyer device adapted to feed articles that are longer than they are wide and that have an upwardly extending circular projection smaller than either body dimension and to deliver said articles one at a time and with their short axis parallel to the path of movement of the articles, comprising a conveyer on which said articles rest which moves more rapidly than said articles at the discharge end and a continuous guide member above said conveyer tting loosely over said projections, whereby the comparatively rapid movement of said conveyer causes said articles to crowd at the discharge end and thereby to pivot about their projections and to assume a position with their short axis parallel to their pat-h of movement, and a flaring entrance for said guide member.

5. An orienting conveyer device adapted to feed articles that are longer than they are wide and that have an upwardly extending projection smaller than either body dimension and to deliver said articles one at a time and with their short axis parallel to the path of movement of the articles, comprising a conveyer on which said articles rest which conveyer moves more rapidly than the articles at the discharge end and a guide member secured to a bracket comprising slotted parts permitting said guide member to be adjusted to a position relative to the conveyer, said guide member fitting loosely over said projections, whereby the comparatively rapid .movement of said conveyer causes said articles to pivot about their projections and to assume a position with their short axis parallel to their path of movement.

WILLIAM J. MUNDY. 

